Nail Houses

Pertinacious (adjective):  Holding firmly to an opinion or a course of action.

Mum shared a really interesting article with me the other day (you can read it here), all about Nail Houses - which I hadn't heard of before.  In a nutshell:  You know how sometimes the government needs to purchase a bunch of houses so they can knock them down to make way for a new highway, or a new airport etc. etc?  Well in many parts of China now they seem to have laws that protect homeowners to the point that if they chose not to accept the government's offer and sell their homes so they can be knocked down for new roads etc., then the government can't force them to do it.

So the government (and this is where it all gets just a little fabulous), simply knocks down everything else, and goes ahead with the project anyway.  Sometimes they'll even pull down half of an apartment building, leaving the section containing the apartment that won't sell! This perfect mix of stubbornness on both sides means that some proud homeowners suddenly find themselves living in the middle of a freeway:

Now from what I've read, it seems that sooner or later a house-stopping-the-freeway-from-opening will draw huge national media attention and heavy pressure will rain down on everyone involved.  And then it seems that eventually (as was the case with the above home) the homeowner will sell their home and move, but not until after the Government folds and gives them the much higher asking price they were demanding in the first place.

    

                           

                         

But of course, it also seems like some simply adjust to life in the middle of the road. 

Which I think is pretty awesome really :)

xo Tammy 

Change is a'comin'

So it's official.  I've given notice at work, and will be finishing up in a month.  It has been a great job for the last almost seven years and I've learnt a lot. So much, in fact.  I've had lots of great experiences, and met lots of really interesting people.  But it's time for a change and I'm really looking forward to it.  My lease is also up around the same time, and I've decided not to renew so I'll be moving house too.

What's next you ask?

I have absolutely no idea.  I don't have a new job yet, and haven't really applied to many jobs.  I'm not even sure what I'd like to do next.  I realize that's not particularly responsibly - especially since I'm not a woman of leisure who can just afford to holiday for a month in-between jobs.  But at the moment, I'm just so excited with the 'being finished' part, that I'm having trouble focusing completely on the 'starting again' part.

I have dreams of taking off for a few months and traveling the world in-between this job and the next, but the funds aren't really there, so it will probably (hopefully) be a matter of finishing, taking a week or two's break to move house, and then starting a new job.

But that's okay, they say change is as good as a holiday, and I am very much in need of one!

So here's my questions for you:

a) What do you think I should do next?  (honestly, any suggestion is likely to be considered.  The other day I spent a happy half hour thinking about just how casual and stress-free and utopia-like it would be to work as a Sandwich artist at Subway)

b) If you've ever made any huge life changes and they've turned out good or bad, I'd love to hear them.

Four (and a half) weeks to go!!!!

xo Tammy

Weathering Life

When the news of the Oklahoma tornado came through yesterday morning, and I started to hear (in particular) about the parents screaming out the names of their children as they ran to the school that had been so completely devastated, I felt my heart break a little.  The United States has been doing it tough lately, with storms, shootings, explosions and tornadoes, and I know there are towns all over the world going through equally or even more devastating experiences every day.

As these events occur, I find myself glued to the news reports during the day, and ticking things over in my mind at night. Like many, I have a faith in God that pulls me through the hard times in my life.  But regardless of whether you believe or not - there are few things as uplifting and comforting as hearing about the ways that people reach out to each other with things seem overwhelming.



I particularly enjoyed this article by Jason F Wright this morning:

Like many of you, I’ve watched hours of the live coverage broadcast from mountains of rubble and rippled asphalt parking lots. Stories are emerging of friends, neighbors and strangers saving lives. ... As the anecdotes roll in, I wonder why it sometimes takes such tragedy for our hearts to fully engage with one another. Does it seem we’re all a little kinder after school shootings, marathon bombings and natural disasters? Don’t we love our fellowmen on the good days, too?

We’ve seen recovery footage featuring volunteers climbing up and around dangerous piles of rubble that appear as if they might collapse like a Jenga tower. Their bravery reminds us that God could do this work if he wanted to, but he expects us to be his hands.

We know he could pull people from trapped cars, put out fires or carry a stranger’s body from ruins to a resting place. No, he doesn't need our help — he wants it.

Heartbreak of this EF-4 magnitude tornado teaches us that our Father in heaven is a God of perfect miracles, but often the day-to-day heavenly miracles come through imperfect, earthly hands.

We know that tragedies only teach us if we allow ourselves to learn from them. Perhaps the tragedies of the past few months have reminded us that the best way to honor those who’ve lost their lives is to be more kind, more patient and more loving.

And with all of this in mind, I came across a really wonderful story on Facebook that is definitely worth a watch.  It's a quieter example of how tragedy and hard times can bring out the best in us and actually enhance our lives.  Zach passed away a few days ago, on the 20th of May, but his life has touched so many others (especially with this video now going viral), and he was able to be strengthened and touched by so many in return.  If you've got 22 minutes and a box of tissues, I'd highly recommend it:

So I guess in summary:  Storms are scary, and there are certainly a lot of them around.  Some people's storms are so severe that I can't even begin to relate. But I'm grateful to know that the sun will always continue to shine above the clouds - even when they block our view momentarily - and that it will eventually find a way to break through.

xo Tammy

Best App Ever

Okay, apologies in advance for those who aren't THAT interested in what I'm starting to think of as the 'cool things online' series that I seem to have started up through scattered posts over the last few weeks, but I HAVE to tell you about this awesome app that I've recently discovered:

Now, there will no doubt be a small group of you going 'Sleep Cycle? Seriously?  That thing's been around forever!'  And you're probably right. But I'VE only just discovered it, and honestly, I think it's amazing.  Here's the gist, in a nutshell (and yes, I'm quoting directly from the website):

Have you ever woken up feeling completely wrecked when the alarm clock goes off, despite the fact that you have slept “enough” hours? When this happens you have probably been awakened during a deep sleep phase, and your whole day can turn into one long zombie marathon. Other days you spring out of bed with a smile on your face, feeling completely rested even though you shouldn’t. As the alarm clock goes off, chance seems to play a big role in how your day will become. But does it really have to be that way? This is where the Sleep Cycle alarm clock application comes into play.

During the night you go from light sleep to deep sleep, occasionally entering into a dream state which is called REM-sleep. These are things that your normal alarm clock does not care about, and will go off at the set time regardless of whether you are in a light sleep phase or in the deepest sleep. However, since you move differently in bed during the different phases, the Sleep Cycle alarm clock is able to use the accelerometer in your iPhone to monitor your movement and determine which sleep phase you are in. Sleep Cycle then uses a 30 minute alarm window that ends at your set alarm time and wakes you in your lightest sleep phase.

I actually heard about this App a while ago.  You put your iPhone on the corner of your bed as you sleep, and it's sensor's pick up when you move and monitor how much you move to know how deeply you're awake or asleep. They then plot out a graph of your deep-light sleep cycle, and then wakes you up at the best part of the 30minute window you give it the night before so that you wake up feeling awesome!  But it all sounded a little too fantastical and far-fetched, so I ignored it.  But after (on the weekend) I heard my brother Ben talking about it and swearing by it, I decided to give it a go.  I downloaded it for 99c from the AppStore, and have now used it for 3 nights in a row.

And here's what's absolutely amazing to me - this thing actually works! Like, seriously works!  I never get more than 6 hours sleep during the week, and often need to get up very early (3 or 4am).  And I have SUCH a hard time waking up and dragging myself through the next few hours until I've finally shaken it off and woken up properly.  But the last 3 mornings in a row, when that little alarms has beeped, I've been WIDE AWAKE!  Instantly. Awake.  It's wonderful. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful :)

SO.  If you have an iPhone, you really need to give this a try.  It's like a whole new world, where people can be people, and not zombies. 

xo Tammy

Monday Motivation

What's good in your day today?! :)

xo Tammy

Subway Sweetheart

I decided to stop at subway on my way home from last night's workout.  I was feeling lazy, and a nice Steak and Cheese wrap sounded much better than cooking dinner.  I parked the car, walked in, and was surprised to see a 12 year old boy standing behind the counter  (okay, so he was probably 14 or 15 or whatever the legal age for working in Australia is - but he LOOKED 12).  This kid was obviously brand-spanking-new to the world of Sandwich Artistry, and, well, to be frank, I've never seen anyone do a worse job of putting together a subway.

But I didn't care.  At all.  Because this kid was just so darn cute!  Seriously, melt your heart cute.  And he was trying so hard.  It started when I ask for a steak and cheese wrap, and he reached into the cupboard to pull out the package of wraps and grabbed the closed end by mistake.  This resulted in every wrap in the packet flying out through the open end and landing Frisbee-like all over the floor.


He was clearly mortified, but he also seemed to be working on the 'maybe if I don't make a big deal no one will notice' thing, as he put them all in the bin and started looking ('subtly') in every cupboard for another packet.  Which he couldn't find.  So once I realized he was going to silently continue to look for wraps until I stepped in, I decided to put him out of his misery by saying (also playing along with the 'let's pretend that never happened thing') "Actually, instead of a wrap, could I maybe change my mind and have a 6 inch Pizza sub instead?"

He looked grateful and relieved.  And was quick with a 'of course ma'm'  (which is another reason the kid was melting my heart.  He kept ma'm-ing me).

He forgot to wipe off the knife before he cut open my sandwich (which put avocado all through it. Luckily I like avocado).  He had trouble spreading the avocado when I then asked for it.  He didn't seem to remember which cheese was the Swiss cheese and after a bit of silent back and forwarding he settled on the cheddar cheese - which he ever so carefully laid out all down the sub.  He was making such a mess of all the salads (spilling everything into every bucket) in his attempt to serve me quickly - which resulted in me pretty much having every salad on the sub, rather than just the handful I'd asked for.  When I said 'no salt and pepper please' he must have only heard the 'salt and pepper please' part, because after another round of 'of course, ma'm' I got a very generous serve of both.  My 'double olives please' resulted in double olives all over the bench, since he couldn't seem to master the art of putting them on top of my sub's salad mountain without them all rolling off again (I watched him try about 4 times before he gave up and asked hopefully "is that enough olives ma'm?")

Oh, and instead of a 6 inch, he made me a foot-long.  But by the time I'd noticed he wasn't going to cut it in half, he'd already put all the meats on, and I didn't have the heart to tell him it was supposed to be a 6 inch - it was a little too soon after the 'wraps on the floor' incident! And the entire time, in between all of the "of course ma'm's", he kept apologizing under his breath - even in the rare moments when he didn't actually have something to apologise for.  It was all kind of hilarious.

By the time he'd wrapped it up (and I use the term 'wrapped' loosely, because if I hadn't been so careful about how I carried it to the car, my sub would have suffered the same fate as the wraps) and went to the checkout, he seemed to be a little worked up - despite my best efforts to exude calm customer contentment and gratitude - and he forgot to take his gloves off.  So that resulted in southwest sauce all over the cash register keyboard (which was fortuitously covered with a plastic keyboard cover) and all over my EPTOS card when he handed it back to me.

Poor kid.  I'm not sure he'll last there very long.  He was trying so hard, but the harder he tried the worse he seemed to do.  But I seem to have a soft spot for these cute little teenager boys and their sincere desire to get things right (I have a few of them in my seminary class). And this awkward stage won't last forever.  One day he'll grow up and figure things out.  He'll learn how to make a perfect sub and will get that trendy, cheerful, zippy, subway-teenager thing down.

In the meantime though, I think I'll glad-wrap my EPTOS cards before visiting again...

xo Tammy

Welcome to Earth!

Father asked us, “What was God’s noblest work?” Anna said, “Men”, but I said “Babies”. Men are often bad, but babies never are.

- Louisa May Alcott.

I have a new niece!  She was born Monday afternoon, and last night I was able to make the trip up to the hospital to meet her.  Such a wonderful experience to meet someone who's so recently come from Heaven!  

This newest little girl is so strong!  She was lifting and moving her head and kicking her arms and legs with such power.  She'll be a tall girl I think, like her paternal grandfather.  There's a gentleness in her too though.  Such a special, gentle little spirit that I found it incredibly difficult to leave the hospital for the long drive home.  She just kept pulling me back into the room! 

(That and the fact that I mistook the bathroom for the exit and had to come back into the room in order to actually exit).

She's beautiful.  With wonderful parents, and so much promise.

So welcome to the world baby girl!  I can't wait to see you grow and learn and develop.  And I can't wait to get to know you better and spend many fun hours playing and being your (favourite) Aunty :)

xo Tammy

1000 Awesome Things

For Christmas last year, my Aunty Leah sent me this book:

Not only did I love it, but I was also excited to see that the book is actually based on the blog 1,000 Awesome Things, written by Neil Pasricha and which has won the Webby Award (for the best blog in the world, seriously, lol!).  And it really is an awesome blog.  He's a witty and funny, and each day he posts about one of lifes small pleasures, that - if you remember to notice and acknowledge it - is completely awesome.  From managing to peel your orange in one go, to arriving at your destination just as the perfect song finishes on the radio, to the cold side of your pillow, the smell of a bakery, or finding five dollars in your coat pocket.  There's the perfect mix of  'feel-good optimism' and humour and you often find yourself laughing and thinking 'yeah, I don't know if I've ever really thought about that before, but it is totally awesome!'

Anyway, I came across this TED talk with the author where he tells the story of how his life lead him to start the blog and the success as it all took off. It's poignant and funny in parts, and I really enjoyed it -

So, what tops your list of 'Awesome'?

xo Tammy

One of My Favourite Websites

One of my all time favourite websites is www.TED.com

The blurb:  TED is a non profit organisation whose self stated mission is to 'share ideas worth spreading'.  It started in 1984 as a conference bringing together people from Technology, Entertainment and Design fields, but since then it's scope has expended to pretty much anyone from any field, who has an idea worth sharing.

And these aren't just 'any' people.  These are the worlds foremost brain scientist talking about new discoveries, or  crazy intelligent inventors talking about new technologies, or humble refugees talking about their experiences under an evil regime  or a famous sports person talking about their approach to a famous race etc. etc.  And at each conference, these speakers are given just 15 minutes, on stage, fairly conversationally, to share their ideas or experiences with the audience.

And the website is full of the recordings of these talks. They also have transcripts of all of them.

I don't have much time to sit on TED and watch talks unfortunately, so I admit I'm not on there all that often.  But every now and again (about once ever other month), I'll jump on during lunch or something, browse to a topic that jumps out at me, and spend fifteen minutes learning something new, and almost always, something very interesting - delivered by an incredibly interesting person.

The last three talks I've watched were excellent, and I thought I'd share them with you in case you're interested:

Hyeonseo Lee:  My Escape from North Korea

This one had me in tears, sad and happy.  Such an inspiring story and one that's worth hearing. 

I would definitely recommend it.

Roger Ebert: Remaking my Voice

When film critic Roger Ebert lost his lower jaw to cancer, he lost the ability to eat and speak.  But he did not lose his voice.  In a moving talk from TED 2011, Ebert and his wife, Chaz, with friends Dean Ornish and John Hunter, come together to tell his remarkable story. 

This one had me laughing out loud so many times, but it was deeply touching and had me teary a few times too.  Here is a truly wonderful example of the kind of attitude I'd hope to have if I went through a trial of this magnitude!

Edi Rama: Paint the Town for Hope

When former Painter, mayor and current leader of the Socialist Party of Albania, Edi Rama, campaigned to add a few coats of colour to the buildings in his city of Tirana, even he wasn't prepared for how it inspired optimism in its residents.  In his impassioned talk, he makes that case for hope in politics and the citizens ability to impact change. 

I'm not sure if I'd agree with all of his politics, but I loved this story and the points he made.

As you can probably tell, I favour the 'Human Story' talks over the 'Latest breakthroughs in heart surgery' talks :)  But it's a fabulous site, and I'd recommend exploring it on your own some time.   You can also explore the videos through TED's YouTube Channel, which is another good way to go.

Enjoy!! And let me know if you come across a good one, I'll love to hear about it!

xo Tammy

Again and again and again and again!

My world is largely full of adults.  I work with adults, I live with adults, I mostly converse with adults.  And so every now and again, when I spend some time with my (wonderful, fabulous, very 'little people') nieces and nephews, it takes me a bit by surprise just how differently they go through life.

For example last week I was hanging out with Maggie (3 years old) and Ana (almost 2 years old), and we were playing hide and seek.  This is how it goes: Maggie and I would cover Ana with a blanket, on her bed in their room.  Then we would run out into the lounge room, sit on the couch, cover our eyes and count to ten.  Once that ritual was accomplished, we would sprint back into the room, pull the blanket off Ana (the same one we had just put on her), and 'find her'.  Then Maggie would be hidden under the same blanket, and Ana and I would run out into the lounge room, sit on the couch, cover our eyes and count to ten before running back into the the room and finding her.

We would then repeat this about 12 times.

Then the game would get a little exciting, because Maggie would decide to hide Ana under the table instead of under the blanket.  This would be followed by Maggie hiding under the table on the next round, and then we'd repeat that cycle about 12 times.   And then another exciting change would eventually happen, and we'd hide Ana in the clothes cupboard instead of under the table (just to really challenge ourselves), and we'd repeat that 12 (or 1200) times.

I admit to getting a little bored with the game (like, really bored).  I kept trying to introduce new hiding spaces, or a little sense of 'surprise' into the game ('Maggie, why don't you hide somewhere else, by yourself, and Ana and I will try and figure out where you are?!') - but they weren't the slightest bit interested.

It made me laugh, and I've been thinking about it a little since then.  It's definitely a pattern with little people, this 'repetition' thing.  But repetition is a crucial component for getting better at something, right? And it's so exciting to be part of all that learning and growing.  I certainly used repetition when I was learning to play the piano, or memorising for exams, or learning all the things I know how to do for my job at work.  And I'm grateful for all those people who put aside their 'being bored' moments to patiently help me repeat something they already knew how to do, until I finally had it down.

And it was seriously impressive just how clearly and quickly Ana could count to ten (with her little hands pressed over her eyes), before we went to find Maggie.

So though the game itself was just a tad boring, it was fun as always to hang out with these great little girls and their little worlds of practice and learning.

xo Tammy

PS.  Abs, if - when they're teenagers - you ever having trouble finding one of them, just give me a call. Pretty sure I've got all their 'hiding places' covered :)

April Fools!!!

I love a good joke.  The kind that catches me unaware and has me 'falling for it' before suddenly realizing I've been 'had'.  April Fools day this year fell on Easter Monday, so in my world at least, it sort of passed unnoticed (apart from all the Facebook memes recommending Easter egg hunts with no Easter eggs as a merry way to combine the two days!)

When I got back to work yesterday though, I noticed online that there had been a slew of really excellent April Fools day jokes  from some of the world's biggest companies, going viral and catching thousands of people off guard.  Here are a few of my favourites.... 

Richard Branson announces glass-bottomed planes

Google Maps Introduced 'Treasure Mode'.... Classic!

YouTube announces it's time to Shut Down

(This one is my absolute favourite by the way, if you have time to watch this video, you definitely should!)

And then to make the prank even more awesome, they followed up with this video:

To quote from an article I read in Time's website:

Two award presenters have been reading descriptions from YouTube videos ("nominees" for "best video") for the past seven hours. Live. Non stop. You can and should watch, it's deadpan performance art at its finest. 

I can't… I can't process this level of commitment to a prank.

At this point, I'm not sure when they'll stop, but the header claims the following:

"Every video uploaded over the past eight years is under consideration to win YouTube. Our presenters will be announcing all the nominees for 12 hours every day over the next two years. Tune in for Day 1 of our live ceremony."

Which probably means they're going for twenty four hours, but… I don't know. I'm starting to think they'll go longer. What do you think? Is this the greatest thing ever? How long before they pass out? STAY TUNED! IT'S ALL LIVE!

Oh, and if you're a member of my Church, then you may also enjoy this article, which actually had me going for a while :)

Hope you enjoy these pranks!  And remember, it's only 364 days till next April Fools day... so it's probably a good time to start plotting.... muwahahahahah!

:)

xo Tammy

Clawing my way back onto the wagon

Weight Loss. Exercise. Healthy Eating.

These three things are like my own personal axis of evil.

I mean, I know they're not 'evil' evil, and that with a stronger will power and a positive attitude they could actually be my personal axis of happiness or something equally optimistic. But for the last several years, they've fallen somewhere between 'complete and utter failure' and 'momentary success followed by complete failure' on my success scale.

But, since I'm a Munro, and like Churchill we 'never, never, never (completely) give up', I'm clawing my way back onto the wagon and trying again. Last year I actually had quite a bit of success with the exercise and healthy eating thing.  I was working out with a personal trainer 2-3 times a week, and actually got quite fit and strong.  It was pretty great.  Then I injured my ankle, and it took a long time to figure out what the problem was (tendon issues and a break in one of the bones) and so my training stopped for several months over Christmas.  Then my trainer up and moved to Sydney (which I thought was very unsupportive of him) and so my fitness ran off and my tone fell off, and I started eating copious amounts of chocolate again.  Sigh.  I did occasionally go and swim laps at the pool... but that's it.

SO.  I'm trying again.  My friend Lauren and I are training together with a new (and lovely) Personal Trainer named Rowena, and I had my first sessions with her last week.

Over four circuits we did 80 squats, 80 sit-ups, 80 push-ups  80 step-ups, and a whole bunch of boxing.  As you can tell, we were starting out 'gently', since it was my 'first session back'.  (Personal Trainers, by the way, are all a little confused about the meaning of words like 'easy' and 'gentle').

I couldn't move the next day. Well, I could.  I suppose I'm exaggerating.  But it hurt to move, which is practically the same thing.  And to top it all off, the next morning I felt really nauseous.  Like, really nauseous. I had some important stuff on that day, so couldn't stay home even though I knew that I needed to because I could tell I was going to be throwing up all day.  I said a prayer for strength, and packed emergency 'sick bags' in my handbag, and carried an empty ice-cream container down to the car.

By 10 am, I was still just as nauseous, but I hadn't actually gotten sick.... which was confusing. And at about 10:30 am the penny finally dropped and I suddenly realized that I wasn't sick.  I just has sore tummy muscles from the 80 sit-ups I'd done the day before! That's right people, this little woman has muscles in my stomach. Turns out there's more than just 'soft tissue' down there! How exciting is that?!

And so we come to the moral of this story, which appears to be that you'd better wish me luck.  I have a feeling that this wagon isn't going to be moving particularly fast.... :)

A Tribute to My Hero

I was only 18, and I was very tired after being away with friends for a few days.

Those are my excuses, and I'm sticking by them!

Those are the real reasons that when I backed out of the shopping centre parking space, I accidentally side-swiped a concrete pole and knocked the front headlight and bumper bar completely off the old car that Mum and Dad had found for me to drive during the first year of having my license.

I cried all the way home that night -with my headlight held on the front of my car with duct tape (don't ask), and the bumper bar sitting there in the back seat of the car.  Seriously, I cried all the way home.

I remember parking in the driveway and going inside to where Mum and Dad were sitting in the living room watching a movie and waiting for me to get home. In a very wobbly voice I asked Dad to please come outside for a minute.  He did, and he then stood next to the car while I sobbed out a loooonnnngggg string of completely incomprehensible words describing what had happened.  I gestured, I wailed, I sobbed, I felt soooo incredibly bad about the whole thing and it evidently showed.

It was about that point that my Dad started laughing, and laughing hard.  He pulled me in for a huge hug, he told me it was 'okay', and then he walked me back inside.  He could see how sorry I was and it was an old car.  I don't remember him ever mentioning it again.

That's the kind of wonderful Father I have.  Loving, wise, funny, selfless, smart, kind.... completely awesome in every way really.

Happy Birthday Dad!!!

xo Tammy

My hair's emotional issues

About a year ago, my beautiful curly hair (I used to call it unruly rather than beautiful, but with a sorrowful sense of nostalgia, ‘beautiful’ is how it will ever after be described) stopped being quite so curly.  At first it was just the patch of hair on the right hand side of my face that seemed to be dropping its curls and becoming ‘wavy’ rather than curly.  Then the rest of my hair became ‘wavy’ rather than curly.  And then the patch on the right hand side of my face actually became ‘straight’. And then suddenly, my whole head of hair was straight!

How very odd!  My hair straightener had broken, but I haven’t needed to get a new one!  I still blow dry it most days (so it doesn’t look quite so unruly and ‘un-done’), but there’s no curl to ‘straighten’ anymore. I used to wear it about 50% curly and 50% straight, but these days, it’s 100% limp, straight, and boring!

I’m learning to deal with it *sob* and It’s been *sniff* really hard (though probably not paralysed for life, third world hunger, kind of hard).  But I’m finding it very difficult to make my peace with this horrible hole in my life without having the answer to this one simply question:  WHY?!!

Now, mum’s initial theory was that I’ve killed my hair with hair drying and straightening.  Mum’s theory has received some support through my extensive googling on the subject.  But I’ve been using good hair products and I’ve never used a hair dryer or a straightener for very long (and I don’t use a straightener at all any more) so….

My sister Abby has a slightly stranger (although also Google supported, lol!) theory that has something to do with our hair changing every 7 years.  Apparently it will change again in another 7 years so I guess I’ve got my fingers crossed for the curls to come back…

Lots of talk on Google is around pregnancy and having babies, and many people’s curly hair apparently straightens around these times… but since I’ve been neither pregnant nor given birth…

So that brings me to my theory.  After extensive googling, and in conjunction with the above theories, here’s what the medical and hairdressing industries overwhelmingly seem to have to say about my ‘issue’:

         -   I’m not alone.  This happens to a lot of women.

         -   It’s hormones….. We think… We don’t know why or how…. But it’s definitely got to be hormones…. We think.

*sigh* so it seems to come down to the fact that my hair is a tad emotionally unstable these days, with hormone imbalances and incomprehensible ‘issues’.  And it’s really messing up my fashion sense and my ability to try on different looks depending on my moods. Which is in turn making me a tad emotionally unstable.

Oh well, at least I’m not ‘alone’, right?  Maybe I should start some kind of group therapy support group for fellow sufferers.

And our emotional hair....


xo Tammy

The New Normal?

The internet is a-buzz at the moment with the story of a women, Sarah Darling,  who accidentally dropped her engagement ring into a homeless man's coin cup as she was emptying the coins from her wallet into the man (Billy Ray Harris)'s cup.  She didn't notice it missing for a few days as she had a skin rash and wasn't wearing it.  When she finally realized, she was distraught!  She went back to the man, and according to about 1,000 online articles (including this one):

When Ms Darling returned to the Plaza and found Mr Harris (and these are his own words)

"She squatted down like you did right there, and says 'Do you remember me?' and I  was like "I don't know.  I see a lot of faces".  She says "I might have gave you something very valuable".  I said "was it a ring?" and she says "yeah", and I said "Well, I have it".   

Billy Ray Harris

He could tell it was worth a lot of money, and he'd kept the ring for the rightful owner because it simply wasn't his. "My grandfather was a reverend.  he raised me from the time I was six months old, and thank the good Lord, it's a blessing, but I do still have some character" he said. 

Ms Darling was so grateful she gave him all the money in her wallet.  Her fiance was so grateful, that he's set up a fund in Mr Harris's name to say thank you, and people have now donated over $150,000 to the fund and it's still going strong.  So he's been generously thanked, and the large number of donations and the large amount has now spawned a whole new slew of followup articles.

Ms Darling's engagement ring

It really is a lovely and heart warming story, and I've enjoyed following it.  I especially love that the man is able to take pride in the fact that he still has his good character and knows that it's valuable enough to protect. 

A part of me though, has been just a little bit surprised by the whole thing - it's a shame to me that this is such a news worthy article!  That someone having integrity and doing the right thing - even when a lot of money is involved - would be so unusual that it's made news the world over!   Would most people really have pawned the ring and made some money at this obviously kind-hearted woman's expense? 

Is that what we all have come to expect and accept?  Is honesty really seen as such an anomaly in our society today? 

I hope not!  :) 

Either way - I'm pleased, like everyone else, that Mr Harris has set us all such a great example, and I'm also grateful for Ms Darling's example of charity at the front of the story, and then of gratitude on the back end of the story.  Everyone involved - including those donating to the 'thank you' fund - seem to have caught a spirit of doing good and of doing what's right. 

I'm just hopeful that that's what's normal and what we've come to expect and accept of each other and everyone around it :)

Your thoughts?...

xo Tammy

Ode to New York

If you know me well, you know that I'd probably rather be a married-stay-at-home-mum than a 31-year-old-single-working-girl.  BUT, since I'm the latter - at least for the moment - one of the perks is that I've been free to travel and explore some fun places.  And I've been reminiscing lately about New York City.

I had always felt like a New York City girl at heart.  For as long as I can remember, I'd known that if I could just get there, I'd absolutely love it.  And in 2010, I spent three wonderful weeks there with two of my favourite people (Brecken & Justin) while they were living in Manhattan for Justin's Masters degree at Columbia University.

Well.  New York City did not disappoint!  It was everything I'd always imagined and so much more:

Business, Hustle & Bustle

Skyscrapers

Rivers & Bridges

Crazy numbers of people. Everywhere.

A thousand and one cultures all mixed together.  

Sights, sounds, tastes, smells

Little Italy

China Town

Central Park.  A thousand neighbourhood parks.

The Upper West side, Washington Heights, the Bronx, Harlem, Brooklyn... etc. etc. etc.

Times Square!!! 

Musicals, Musicals, Musicals

Culture, Culture, Culture

Jazz!! Classical Music. Any kind of music!

History - both of the city, and the world history collections you find there

The setting of practically every movie ever made

Neighbourhoods and the generations of families who have made them their own

Landmarks and famous food places.

I loved it, and love it still, and I really can't wait to get back there someday.  In the meantime however, I thought I'd leave you with a couple of photos of my favourite memories:

Times Square! LOVE the energy there! :)

Cafe Lalo - The cafe from You've got Mail (Don't they know you're supposed to have a last name?!)  DELICIOUS food!

Central Park. It's like 100 parks in one, and it's HUGE.  LOVE it!

The absolute best Gelato in the world. And I'm not exaggerating. It's THAT good.   

Van Gough at the MET.  Could have spent DAYS there.

Gorgeous square right in the middle of the busy intersection.  You may have seen it in 'Music and Lyrics', 'You've Got Mail ' (I hope your mango's ripe!) and 1,000 other movies.

Central Park, Again. I loved it that much!

On the ferry, heading over to Ellis Island

Two fabulous ladies. Just chilling.

A walk home from the local deli in the rain.  Brecken thought this might finally put a dent in my love of NYC.  She was wrong. Still loved it! If you could see my face, I'd be grinning...

Dinner and a show at one of the city's favourite jazz clubs.  It was open mic night, but they were ALL pros.  Watched them jam for hours, and could have gone hours more.

Cheese, Olives, Salamis, you name it.  These neighbourhood delis are incredible!

The Manhattan Temple. On our way to church.

Broadway and Time Square.  Simply nothing else to say.  Those shows were... beyond incredible!

The Hersey Factory, Times Square

The Brooklyn Bridge.  LOVE it, and love the history.  Can't believe people built it without all our modern helps!

More Gelato... in Little Italy this time.

Looking over the river to New Jersey, from River Side Park.

LOVE this city!!

Whistle while you work

This morning I've been remembering a story about my great grandmother, Kathleen Mary Fitzgerald (how's that for a good solid Irish name? Lol). She had a very difficult life in many ways, and with a lot of hardship.  But she was a very kind and gentle woman with a great sense of fun. My great uncle Doug (her son) has told me that she was also very popular because she was an accomplished pianist with a beautiful singing voice. 

Anyway, my favourite story about her goes something like this: One time she was riding the train from Adelaide to Darwin - right up the middle of Australia - and for some reason the train either broke down, or was forced to stop due to flooding up ahead.  But either way, the train (and everyone on it) was stuck there in the middle of Australia, for two days! Anyway, it was soon discovered that she could play and sing, AND it turned out that there was a piano in one of the luggage cars.  So a bunch of fellows on the train unloaded the piano out onto the ground right there in the middle of nowhere, by the railway track, and as Uncle Doug puts it she 'practically played for two days and two nights straight while everyone enjoyed a non-stop singalong!'  She played everything.  From all the great wartime classics (like 'it's a long way to tipararee'), well loved 'pop songs' of the era, like 'somewhere over the rainbow' and of course all the old Irish songs like 'take me home Kathleen'.

 I love that story not only because it tells me something about her, but also because it's a wonderful example of finding a silver lining, of making lemonade out of lemons, of blooming where you're planted.  Of making the best of whatever situation you might find yourself in at a particular time.  Especially when the situation isn't one you'd expected.

So that's my thought for the day:  If you find yourself stuck by railway track in the middle of nowhere, you can either sit feeling all bored and hot and sorry for yourself, OR you can make the effort to pull out the piano and make some music! The first is definitely easier, but I've been getting better at the whole pull out the piano and sing your way through the hard times thing lately, and I'm definitely happier for it.  La la la la la la la!

(Feel free to join in - we could make this quite a sing-a-long!)

xo Tammy